Romans 9:1-5
1 I am speaking the truth
in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit—2 I have
great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I
myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own brothers
and sisters, my own flesh and blood. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong
the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and
the promises; 5 to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the
flesh, comes the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
Matthew 14:13-21
13 Now when Jesus heard [about the beheading of John the Baptist,] he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled, and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Reflection
The vacation
was a once in a lifetime vacation for the 8-year-old boy. His mother and father took him on a road trip
to see the epic beauty of the western United States. They visited Mount Rushmore, took in the
rugged mountain beauty of Glacier National Park, and finally he found himself
sitting with his family, looking at the one sight he had always wanted to see
since he was a toddler: the Old Faithful Geiser in Yellowstone National
Park. His mother had expected to see
amazement in his face as the geyser finally launched its water high into the
air. Instead, she saw tears and sadness.
“What’s wrong honey?” she asked.
“My stomach hurts,” he cried.
“Did you eat something bad?” she asked.
“No, my stomach hurts that my sister will never see this,” he cried quietly.
He was talking about his twin sister who did not survive beyond birth. His stomach twisted with a deep desire that his sister experience the great things in life that he got to experience. And it ached deeply that she could not. All he ever wanted for her was to have life…with him.
Surely you have experienced this sort of ache in your stomach. I have heard mothers express this sort of ache when they fear their children have started living the wrong sort of life. I have heard children express this sort of ache when they have wanted friends to be with them even as they grow distant. The stomach of one of my travel companions to India sickly twisted when he saw people camping around a leak in a water pipe just so that they might survive on the water that dribbled out. The man was a retired civil engineer. His entire life was devoted to making sure that sights like this never had to be seen. He made a life in which he safely and effectively directed water to the towns he served. His stomach literally ached and turned to see these people suffer. In his experience, the answer was so, so simple. Just a little compassion, just a little engineering would give these people a much better life.
I want to tell you that the twisting ache in the stomach that I am describing is a holy gift from Jesus. It is a gift of empathy and compassion. It is the gift of looking at another living being and deeply desiring that they might be able to live a life that is better and deeper and richer.
It is the gift of empathy and compassion that Jesus felt in his gut when he looked out at a field of people who had sought him out because they needed healing. The blind were guided over rocks and through ditches to reach him. Those who could not walk were shouldered just so that they might feel Jesus’ touch. Sick children were carried to him in their father’s arms. Those who were lost and forgotten stumbled toward his direction so that they might feel a divine connection. And all of them were hungry, both in their stomachs and in their souls.
As Jesus looked out over the field at all of them, the gospel of Matthew says that “he had compassion for them” (Matthew 14:14). And that word for “compassion” right there in the Greek language means that very stomach-churning sense that you get when you look at someone and would do anything to help.
And help he did. Jesus “cured their sick” (Matthew 14:14). Jesus multiplied the “five loaves and the two fish” (Matthew 14:19). “And all ate and were filled…And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children” (Matthew 14:20-21).
Life with Jesus is a life in which Jesus looks at you with a stomach twisting compassion that would do anything, even give up his life, so that you might have a healed life, a full life, a meaningful life, and a life that is lived with that same sort of empathy and compassion. Jesus desires deeply that you be blessed so that you can bless. Jesus desires deeply that you be loved so that you can love.
That reminds me of a joke. Three guys are at a funeral, staring at a coffin. One guy says, “When people are looking at me in my coffin at my funeral I want them to say, 'he was caring, he was kind, he was compassionate, he always had time for people, he made everyone feel welcome.'”
The second guys quipped, “When people are looking at me in my coffin at my funeral I want them to say, 'he was a devoted family man, he worked hard to provide a good life for his family, he was looked up to by all his children and grandchildren.'”
The last guy stared at the other two in disbelief and said, “When people are looking at me in my coffin at my funeral I only want them to say one thing, 'he's moving.'”
Jesus wants to heal us and restore us so that we can be moving. Jesus desires nothing more than that we be alive, full of life and love and a stomach churching compassion of our own. It is a compassion that he wants to spread far and wide. You know what they say: “Spreading Jesus’ love is like a toddler trying to spread peanut butter, it is sticky and it gets everywhere.”
And if you have gotten this far into the sermon and are wondering what this has to do with our Romans sermon series, I will tell you: “Everything!”
Paul, a follower of Jesus Christ, too has Jesus’ stomach wrenching compassion and empathy. Paul says himself: “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs” (Romans 9:2-5).
Paul is that little boy, wishing with a stomach-churning anguish that his fellow Israelites might be able to experience life with the amazing, bursting geyser that is the love of Jesus Christ for all the world. Many of his brothers and sisters from the tribes of Israel have not accepted his preaching of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. Paul has experienced the most exciting thing that life and God could ever thrown his way, and he would give anything to have those he loves experience it with him. He would even cut himself “off from Christ” so that they could take his place and experience life with him.
Just to be clear, Paul is in no way stating that the Jewish people are condemned. To restate the point, Paul says, “to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 9:4-5). Amen. Let it be so. It is so forever.
This is not a declaration of their eternal damnation as some Christians in the past have assumed. In the end of his argument Paul will emphatically state that “God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew…For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:2a and 29). God’s gifts are given with grace; not earned.
Instead of damnation, Paul reaches the conclusion that God looks upon the Israelites with eyes full of Jesus’ stomach-wrenching compassion. Paul is convinced that since God promised that the people of Israel will always be God’s people, God will keep that promise and will never let them go. God is not a liar. God does not go back on God’s promises. The Jews are not condemned and lost, even though it may appear to us that their branch was broken off the tree to make room for other people to be grafted on. God will not throw away their branch. Israel is and always will be God’s people.
That being clearly stated, Paul still has a genuine yearning for his people to walk with him and take in the sights that he sees as he lives in Christ Jesus and Christ Jesus lives in him.
He wants them to see Old Faithful blow into the air. He wants them to live a life with fresh water piped right to them. He wants them to eat and be filled while laying in the green pastures. He wants people to look upon them in the coffin and see that they are moving. He wants them to truly know Christ as he knows Christ.
We all have someone who we wish could experience a life with Jesus just as we have experienced. We all have someone for whom our stomach wrenches with aches with empathy and compassion, hoping they might have a better life.
Luckily, we know the one who comes and heals. Luckily we know the one who saves us from drowning, even while we actively try to swim away. Luckily we know the one who looks upon all of us with a deep, deep desire that we be loved with a deep and holy love that never lets us go.
So, we pray,
Christ Jesus, we raise up to you the name of someone who we deeply desire would find true life in you. We lift their name to you now. Love them. Save them from all sin and trouble. Hold them close. Give them a good and loving life in you. May our hopes for them become reality. Continue to grasp tightly onto us as well. Jesus, in your precious name we pray. Amen.
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